Sule – Love Me

Based out of the Canadian province of Quebec, singer/vocalist/songwriter Sule’s single “Love Me” bubbles with immense stylishness and an unwavering, confident sense of identity. The polished nature of this recording never strikes me as being overwrought or false but, instead, a natural outgrowth of the singer’s assurance with the material and his comfort level with the musicians. Indeed, Sule’s surrounded with a crew of musicians who obviously agree with the long held idea that the notes you don’t play matter far more than those you do and his instincts for taking this song on elevate the overall result several more notches in my esteem. There’s definitely nothing particularly earth shattering here – we’ve heard this subject broached in countless pop songs, naturally – but what is earth shaking, instead, is how Sule takes the familiar and revitalizes it for his audience through the sheer force of skill and personality. He’s a rare interpreter and creative force who can make great art out of pouring old wine into new bottles and that’s clear in every second of “Love Me”.

It’s truly invigorating to hear a modern performer take on a classic style that’s fallen out of favor and restore it to some form of relevance. The swing pace of “Love Me” is carried off by the musicians and Sule’s vocals with exceptional skill and there doesn’t seem to be a single moment during the recording when either Sule or his collaborators seem uncertain or hesitant about what they should do. Instead, everything comes off with great naturalness and consideration – the acoustic guitar, in particular, mixes strong chord work with glittering melodic, almost lyrical, passages. The chorus is the song’s unquestioned musical high point and both singer and musicians alike transition into those moments with a seamlessness that’s quite satisfying to hear and handled with immense skill. At a little over three minutes in length, Sule and his creative partners keep the track digestible without ever taking any sort of shortcuts to win over potential listeners.

His vocal is a model of that approach. Much of his effort focuses on filling the song with the needed emotion and technique and his ability to keep these often opposing elements in full harmony is one of the great strengths of “Love Me”. These are basic human emotions that the song explores, emotions virtually any adult has experienced in their lives, and Sule gets inside the reality of such moments with a steady hand and a definite sense of something at stake with the recording and lyrics alike. His phrasing is powerful without ever being too theatrical and, like all great musicians, Sule never oversings and his unwillingness to waste even a syllable’s worth of breath in self indulgence makes this an even more memorable track. The latest single from this Canadian performer represents a quantum leap forward in his career and further establishes him as a solo artist to watch for years to come.